C Floating point arithmetic

[Andrew Koenig]

> In an inauspicious moment, K&R specified "All floating-point arithmetic
> in C is done in double precision" (pg 41).

> Two effects:

>	1) floats, as opposed to doubles, are costly and useless (except 
>	   when memory space is critical), and

>	2) I have to advise people with CPU-intense problems not to use C.

> Comments? Does everybody agree?

> garry wiegand

No -- on most machines, single-precision does not offer enough significance
for serious number-crunching, so people tend to use double-precision
anyway if they care about the results.